Richardson and Martinez (2010)

The stunning fall from grace of the past two New Mexico Governors---Democrat Bill Richardson and  Republican Susana Martinez--may cause glee among hardcore partisans but for everyone else the slow motion train wreck of the pair has been a sad turn of affairs.

Allegations over Martinez's sex life involving a state police bodyguard and other salacious information caused $1.7 million in secret lawsuit settlements, allegedly to keep things quiet. That was the final nail in her political coffin. Sex was also the cause of Richardson's final fall as Friday's revelations in the Epstein scandal had him front and center across the globe in a most negative way.

Big Bill had already suffered a decline here, but his national and international reputation was still solid, Since leaving the Governor's office in 2011 he has made frequent appearances on the cable news channels, traveled to the world's hot spots to put out fires, written regular op-eds and presided over his foundation. Now all of that is jeopardized by the sensational allegation--which he firmly denies--that an underage "sex slave"' of Epstein's was involved with him.

Legal experts say Epstein's apparent suicide is not going to end the pain for Richardson, that his name and those of other other luminaries involved with Epstein will see their names "prominently mentioned" in legal proceedings for years to come. Whether Richardson faces legal action is unclear. A woman who claims to have been a teenage "sex slave" for Epstein says she was directed to have sex with him and other well-known men, but she did not say in her court deposition what her age was at the time or whether she actually had sex with the former Governor.

One of our Senior Alligators (sources) comes with a timely lament:

The allegations that Epstein sent a sex slave to Richardson just tarnishes his record further--whether the allegations are true or not. Ditto for the trashy allegations recently about his successor, Susana Martinez. What happened to the low-key, humble public-servant governor? 

We haven’t been without an egotistic, self-aggrandizing, national-profile-seeking Governor since Bruce King left in 1994 (whether MLG can distance herself from that record is yet to be seen). Other politicos in high-profile state jobs aren’t any better. They’ve been part of a never-ending drum roll of drunk-driving, harassing people of the opposite sex, profiting from their positions, paying settlements to friends, saying stupid stuff and sleeping around. Rarely do these egomaniacs appear truly embarrassed, humbled or apologetic for their actions.

The inept Republican Party and the enabling Democratic Party don’t seem to be offering any true deviation from this course. Sadly, the next generation of politicos pursue their own Millennial version of corruption and self-serving behavior. 

The more the political stink grows and the parties run to opposite ends of the spectrum you would think the path is open for a moderate, independent, responsible party and/or politicians that aren’t personalities. But, alas, it’s New Mexico and it seems like this trend will never end—but it will certainly provide plenty of material for bloggers such as yourself.

HELP WANTED

It's not news that making a buck in the newspaper business is as difficult as getting a red chile stain out of a white dress shirt, but what is news is how the business is trying to survive. Take, for instance, the Santa Fe Reporter, a weekly founded in 1971 and robustly supported during that time by advertisers and the community. The paper now says that's not enough. In a note to readers editor and publisher Julie Ann Grimm, writes:

Local business advertising has long been the way we pay for it all. The business model, however, is changing. But, we’re not giving up. Not by a long shot. What we’re doing is opening a new way forward. If you value journalism like ours, and you want it to be here in the future, be a friend. Join Friends of the Reporter.

Grimm says the paper's goal is to raise $20,000 during the rest of this year.

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